Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 11: Maple Grove Raceway ; : By Kev in McKenna READING, PA, SEPT. 17,20 f he hadn't already won nine of the sea son's first 10 events and wasn't already well on his wa y to a second Win ston Pro Stock Bike cham pionship, Matt Hines' gaffe against Angelle Seeling in the final of the Keystone National s might have been eno ugh to cause . him man y sleepless nights. Hi n es , who ent e red th e Read in g event on a 30-round win streak, did the u n th inkable w h en h e st ag ed agai n s t Seeling's Team Wins ton Suzu ki wi th his own t ra ns miss io n lo d ge d in se co n d gear. As soon as he d umped the clu tch, h is Van ce & H ines Eag le One Su zuki . GSX-R bogged, then ro lled to a stop a few feet off the starting line , as Seeling roc keted to a 7.35 to claim her second win of the season. "I just screwed up, that' s all ," sa id Hines, who needs only to qualify at the rem aining three races to lock up his second series cha mpionship. "Wh en I was do ing the burnout, my han d slip ped off th e th ro ttle and I los t my concentration ." H in es : troubl e s gave Seeling th e break she has been looking for since he r las t wi n at the Mopa r Parts Nationals back in May. " I was goi ng to beat him anyway, " said Seeling, who has now won four of 11 in fin al rounds in her caree r. "Two weeks ago at Indy, I let all the excit ement get to me, and I lost to him twice. This time, I was totally focused. In fact, I didn' t even know he was n' t next to me u ntil I got to the finis h line . I was jus t trying to make the bes t run I cou ld ." Pr io r to the fi na l, Seeling a nd he r crew, led by team owner Geo rge Bryce and crew chief Ken Johnson, elected to change eng ines in a desp er ate attemp t to lessen Hin es' performance advantage. "What did we have to lose?" Seeling said. "We ran a 7.42 in th e semis, and we kn ew tha t was n't going .to cu t it against Matt . There was nothing wrong with th e engine; it was just slow. We had a spa re engine in the trailer, bu t we I had never run it in the bike. George even guess ed o n th e tuneup . He just gave it what it liked on the dyno, and it wo rked out fine." For a class that has been predictable fo r most of the season, the Keystone Nationals was a refreshing cha ng e as , even though Hines and Seeling met in the final for the fou rth straight event, a number of others enjoyed a successfu l weekend , including Steve Johnson, who adva nced to the se m ifi n a ls for the seco nd time in two even ts. Johnson knoc ked off number-three qualifier Greg Underda hl in round two before losing a close 7.42-7.49 battle against Seeling . John Smith's luck also took a tum for the better , as he rod e the Anoka-Ramsey Suzuki to his first semifinal finis h in five events. Smith qualified w ith a fourthbest 7.40, and beat Rob Short's Kawasaki ZX-ll and Brian Aye rs before a red light ended his da y against Hines in the final-four round. "I was trying to cut a perfect light, because I figured tha t was the only way to beat Matt," said Smith, who left just .006 of a seco nd before the green light; (Abo ve) Matt Hines ' 3Ground win streak came to an end in the fi nal of the Keystone Nationals wh en he lelt the sta rt ing lin e in second gear against Ange lle 's Seeling 's Team Winst on Suzuki. Seeling, with a 7.35, wou ld have been tough to beat anyway. (Right) Seeling returned to the site of her fir st Nat ional-event victory In 1996 with her seco nd wi n at Maple Grove Racew ay. The Team Winston rider no w has four wi ns in 11 car eer fin als, and Is th e only racer other than Hines to win In 1998. DRAG RACING , NR H AWINSTON --"'.!!!'i~§; ~~ DRAG RACING SER lE ing chasing We're ' . '., \. Hines . She g ra d u a ll y getulti ma tely ting ou rse lves back on th . wou n d up right track. It's bee n a lo ng sea'son .· " guess we're lucky that we' re s till in " ". -,'.

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